


Pretty, Young, and Bored

by PaddieCake



Series: Cold and Cruel, Self-Absorbed and Narcissistic [3]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Anachronistic Technology, Drinking to Cope, Gen, Hargreeves Actually Getting (some) Help!, I think that fits, Implied/Referenced Drug Addiction, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Klaus does YouTube, Klaus typical issues, Minor Angst? But like, Semi-Reliable Narrator, again hell, allison is trying, it's basically hell, it's like the middle, it's not the end, mostly happy ending, no beta we die like ben, on dial up, so angst with a happy middle?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-22
Updated: 2020-07-22
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:47:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25431115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PaddieCake/pseuds/PaddieCake
Summary: Things aren't perfect, but they're trying.
Relationships: Allison Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves
Series: Cold and Cruel, Self-Absorbed and Narcissistic [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1797274
Comments: 26
Kudos: 191





	Pretty, Young, and Bored

**Author's Note:**

> This took way longer to write than I meant it to, but it's done, and I like it just fine, so yey!!
> 
> This takes place in roughly 2010, and then 2011 towards the end-ish. 
> 
> I'll be starting the next part soon-ish, which will be super fun!
> 
> (Also, I stole the title from Kesha's song Blow, because it seemed to fit better than my initial title that I was trying to base off the P!atD song Roaring 20s. The next part is going to be called LA Devotee, though, so it works out).

_[Picture: Allison and companion whose face is covered by a hood, walking together]_

_Young, freshfaced Allison Hargreeves, off the set of her latest project, walking arm and arm with mysterious beau…_

\--

_[Picture: Allison sitting at a table outside a restaurant looking at paparazzo while companion hides face in menu]_

_Allison and her mysterious beau spotted outside of a restaurant. Boyfriend seems to want to keep his identity hidden._

\--

_[Picture: Allison sitting in a chair, laughing as she talks to interviewer]_

_Mysterious boyfriend is_ **_not_ ** _so mysterious brother, as The Rumor laughs at the rumors in a televised interview…_

\--

_[Blurry Picture: Klaus wearing bright, mismatching clothes, seemingly mid-conversation in car with an unseen figure]_

_In a brief interview it is confirmed that Klaus Hargreeves, AKA The Séance, eccentric brother of Allison Hargreeves joins special effects team on new horror project. This will be his first job in the industry. No one seems to know how or when he got into special effects, some claim his father and sister had connections…_

\--

_[Picture: Allison and handsome, and dark skinned man who's pressing a kiss to her cheek, are both wearing designer clothes while they stand for photos]_

_Allison Hargreeves, sporting strappy heels, walks arm in arm with co-star at the premiere of her new film._

\--

_[Picture: Klaus, wearing denim tye-dyed shorts and a flowing black top, and Allison wearing joggers and a loose tank top, leaving their apartment building, seeming to talk excitedly]_

_Klaus_ _Hargreeves working alongside his sister in a secret project. It will be his first time working on such a big budget movie, having previously worked on low-budget, indie films, but many fans in the horror community are excited…_

_Hargreeves siblings spotted…_

-

_Allison Hargreeves and new boyfriend…_

_-_

_Klaus Hargreeves seen kissing..._

-

_Klaus and Allison Hargreeves leaving their apartment wearing…_

-

_[Picture: Klaus crouched in the alley of a club, throwing up]_

_-_

_[Blurry Picture: Klaus and Allison found drinking and dancing at a club]._

_-_

_Allison Hargreeves exclusive interview about her latest project!_

\--

\--

Allison got a thrill every time she saw her name in a magazine. She had loved it as a child when she and her siblings were on the covers of teen magazines, and even now found it to be one of her favorite things.

Klaus _didn't_ like it so much, but he didn't really like a lot nowadays. He was moody and quiet a lot of the time, and even when he _wasn't_ it seemed forced.

The first time his picture was shown, and his name mentioned in a magazine he nearly threw a fit. His boyfriend at the time spent the better part of the day trying to get him to calm down, and it wasn't remotely successful.

Allison did _not_ let him see the fact that they had been seen together walking into their apartment. She would be more worried about people finding out where they lived, but they were moving to a new place in a few days time, and quite frankly they could take anyone who tried to come after them.

Allison smiled as the phone rang, holding it between her cheek and shoulder as she continued to read an article about her last movie, praising her 'performance and charisma'. 

"Do you want anything?"

"You calling from the carphone, Klaus?" Allison asked, smirking a bit. Klaus couldn't even drive, he just liked sitting in the car to use the phone.

"Uh, yeah? It's so convenient!"

Well he sounded better than he had in awhile, at least. 

"Wait, why does it sound like you're on the road?"

"I _promise_ I'm not driving the car in the street."

"So you're driving the car somewhere else? You don't even have a _permit_ , Klaus."

"I'm not! And there's nothing in the law that says I can't telekinetically fly the car to get doughnuts, so suck on _that_." 

Allison thudded her head against the wall. Why was her brother so… _Klaus_?

"Come home, Klaus. _Carefully!_ Jesus, you don't even need a car to fly!"

"It's the only thing that gives me joy in life. Also do you want one of those iced lattes? I'm getting two for myself." The sound of thudding told Allison that Klaus had landed the car. "The wheels are ok!"

Allison was surprised by how relieved she felt. "With whipped cream, please...How did you not get spotted?"

"I mean, I was only hovering a few inches off the ground. Ok, hanging up now. They should really make these more… wait, no _less_ wire-y. Ok, bye."

Allison tossed the magazine onto the table and went to watch the news to make sure Klaus wasn't on it. 

\--

\--

"You could use more blood." Ben said not so helpfully as Klaus applied latex to a dummy head.

Klaus waved Ben away. 

Like he wasn't _acutely_ aware of what a smashed in face was supposed to look like, Ben. 

He _knows_ he needs more blood.

Ghosts ruin everything, he swears.

"And also-"

"Hey, shut it, ok? I'm _working_." Klaus hissed at him, turning to look at Ben, who proceeded to pout. Klaus groaned, pulling his headphones over his ears and pressing play on his Walkman, taking a sip out of his bottle, and continued working.

He'd just been on break, but Klaus much preferred working.

It kept his mind off things, and he wasn't forced to make small talk. 

Klaus didn't know when he started disliking being around people, but he didn't like it.

Klaus let himself get lost in his work. The world melted away. He was glad to have a set task, rather than working on one of the bigger projects at the moment. 

He only looked up or away from his work when he needed to look at a ghost he was using as reference.

A few people gave him weird looks when he had first started working, noticing his 'method' of staring off into space, but they were used to it now. He also liked that most of them didn't seem to recognize him from the Academy, at least at first.

At least they got to know him a bit before they learned he was one of _those_ Hargreeves.

Ben was still talking, and quite frankly Klaus wasn't in the mood for interacting with others, especially not obnoxious ghosts.

He was half through another prosthetic when someone told him they were closing up for the night. He finished up, got his station and himself cleaned, and began his trek home.

Well it wasn't _really_ a trek since he just… flew. 

It was a good thing he looked so good in dark clothing because it hid him well. 

The house was packed up, boxes piled up by the door when he came in. 

"Everything's ready for you for tomorrow morning. You'll be able to fit the dressers and stuff in the truck, ok?" Allison said brightly. "Oh, your roots are showing, do you want me to redo the red?" She asked.

Klaus took a few moments to process everything, mentally swimming through a fog in his head. "Uh…"

"Maybe a haircut?"

Klaus blinked once. Twice. 

"Can I take a bath first?" He asked, feeling overwhelmed by Allison's... everything, at the moment.

Allison shrugged.

The water was probably scalding, but Klaus was glad to let the heat seep through his skin, into his bones. The scent of honey and vanilla wafted in the air, helping calm his nerves. When he was done he dressed in a thick sweater and pants. Not fashionable in the slightest, but very comfortable. 

He took a deep breath before making his way into the living room to talk to Allison.

"Ok, so _yes_ , redo my hair, please. Haircut up to you, I have absolute faith, my dear." He said, smiling at his sister. 

Allison was always excited to rumor his hair, and honestly Klaus got a kick out of the weird shit she rumored it into for fun. 

They ate, and then brought in a bottle of wine with them as they listened to the television, giving each other makeovers.

Klaus was _so very_ grateful for alcohol. It didn't really help as much as drugs did (and Klaus did kind of miss drugs. A lot, actually. A lot a lot.), but it actually made him feel _something_ , so, that was good.

_And_ it was socially acceptable to drink!

By the end of the night they were both pretty drunk off the wine, and half a bottle of vodka, and Klaus' make up was floating around him as he and Allison tried to do each other's makeup. 

"We should like… go on a real spa makeup… salon thing." Allison said, giggling into Klaus' shoulder. 

Klaus bent over in laughter, and when he caught Ben's face it only got worse. 

"When I'm rich, like actually rich? I'm buying a helicopter." Klaus said, eyes suddenly glued to the television. 

"Ok, but spa day? Yes? You have off next weekend and so do I!" She said, shaking him gently.

Klaus nodded emphatically "Ok, sounds good!" Klaus said, eyes glazing slightly as he watched some couple on screen dancing. The distraction caused his makeup to fall, clattering to the ground. 

"Oh no I broke it." Allison said, eyes wide at one of the broken palettes, eyeshadow littering the carpet.

"Nono, it's ok, you can fix it tomorrow." Klaus said, trying to pick up pieces of eyeshadow off the floor, but he only smushed it into the carpet. "That was bad… It's ok, oh hey hey. Don't cry, it'll be fine." Klaus said, rubbing Allison's arm. 

"I feel so bad, though."

Klaus definitely understood that.

"It wasn't even you, ok? I lost concentration, it's fine." He said gently. "Look, we'll fix the carpet and makeup tomorrow, ok? Let's just go to bed."

Allison nodded as Klaus helped her to her room.

\--

Allison had the music in the car radio blasting as she drove down the highway. It was still dark, the sun hadn't even started peaking over the horizon yet.

Klaus was half-asleep in the passenger's seat. They _had_ been up pretty late trying to arrange things around their apartment, and she knew Klaus had a bit of a hangover from the cocktails they'd made, so she let him sleep.

Allison _loved_ their apartment. It was small, compared to the Academy, as most things were, but really it was lovely, with two floors, a bedroom and bathroom on each, and enough room for two living spaces, though she and Klaus rearranged things to better suit their needs.

Allison loved how easy her powers made everything, sometimes, and Klaus' telekinesis and art really helped them visualize what they wanted things to look like.

Allison was… getting swayed into Klaus' mindset of 'fun and comfortable'. She called it 'hippy-goth', but it _mostly_ looked like someone vomited five different aesthetics and tried to make them match. So she was hoping they could compromise without having to have a thick shag carpet in puke green in their living room.

She _still_ didn't know where Klaus got that monstrosity, or why, but it was safely confined to his own room.

They finally reached the set they were filming on for the day, and she nudged Klaus awake. 

Allison was pretty excited to be in a zombie movie, not for nothing. She hadn't wanted to do it initially, especially after reading the whole script. Klaus suggested she have the bits she didn't like taken out, and Allison had considered it, but she wanted the experience, if she was honest.

She didn't really mind that they wanted her to get zombified at the end. She had been worried it would affect her future projects, but then she remembered it didn't have to, and that was that problem solved.

Plus, she hadn't ever needed such extensive makeup work, and the style of acting was different from what she was used to, it was interesting to go through the process.

It took a couple of hours for Klaus and his coworker to get her all zombied up. Klaus went on a cigarette break right after he finished, and refused conversation most of the day.

As they finished up on set, a few of Allison's new friends invited her out for dinner. 

"It's _so_ cool having friends I can go hang out with." Allison admitted as Klaus helped remove all the makeup and latex that had been applied to her. 

"Uh-huh." 

She rolled her eyes, she understood Klaus being quiet while applying everything, but while removing it? "Oh! Do you want to come? I'm sure they won't mind." Allison said, after a second 

Maybe he was just feeling a bit left out, he'd been having trouble holding on to friends, while Allison was very good at it. She hadn't meant to make him feel bad. 

He shook his head, frowning a bit.

"I know you guys don't really get along, but..." she didn't get why, either, they _said_ they don't dislike him, but they always gave Klaus strange looks, and she didn't really get it. By all accounts they _should_ be getting along.

They were never outright mean to him, but getting her friends and Klaus in the same room often left the air cold, and their conversations were usually short and snappy.

"Nah, I have a date, but thanks." He said instead.

Allison didn't know he'd been seeing anyone, but she was happy for him. His choices weren't always great, but they'd been _better_. At least whenever they broke up it seemed mutual.

"Oh, that's good, will I get to meet them?"

Klaus shrugged.

"Maybe if you lightened up a bit you'd be more willing to let me meet them?" Allison suggested, prodding Klaus. 

He let out a huff, though she couldn't tell if it was amused or annoyed. He took a long drink from his water bottle and left it at that.

Allison rolled her eyes, deciding to ignore him if he was going to be a grump.

  
  


\--

\--

Klaus could feel the bass rattling his bones as he danced. He felt bodies pressed up against him from all angles, and, and hands on his hips, and he didn't know if any of them was Bre, but he didn't really care.

Allison was off somewhere doing something, but Klaus was too focused on not caring about anything except feeling good.

And then he was being pulled into a kiss that was _definitely_ Bre, and he smiled into it. He pulled her in closer, watching the lights reflect off her eyes.

She held a small tablet out and Klaus let her place it on his tongue. He knew it wouldn't do anything, the cocktail he was drinking did a much better job of making him feel good, but, well, he could _try_.

And it wasn't like he was using frequently. 

He downed the last of his drink and put it down on a nearby table before letting the music, and Bre, whisk him away into the warmth of the music and dancing. 

\--

\--

Allison was basically in heaven. The loud music, dancing lights, and the cute boy pressed up against her as they danced together.

She could see Klaus enjoying himself in a crowd of grinding bodies, but she was quite happy to just be with… Alex? 

She didn't catch his name.

And then they were making out in the corner of the club, and Allison didn't know if she was supposed to enjoy it, but Klaus seemed to like things like this, and Allison definitely didn't hate it.

"Why don't we go somewhere more private." He murmured into her ear.

Allison shivered a bit, giggling. "Why don't we find my brother and his girlfriend, hang out?" She suggested, pulling him into another kiss.

He agreed, and maybe it was because Allison _made_ him agree, but she wanted to get to know him more, and she wanted Klaus' opinion on him.

After Allesandro they tried to be more careful about who they dated.

Well Allison was more careful, and she made sure Klaus knew what he was doing, and it wasn't _great_ , but it was better than that asshole, and that was good enough for her. 

The four of them spent the rest of the night drinking and hanging out on the beach, and Allison was _pretty_ sure she liked the boy, actual name Jake, and when she asked Klaus he said he seemed ok, which was good enough for her.

As they sat on the beach, Klaus and Bre off exploring under one of the docks, Allison rested her head on Jake's shoulder. 

"I heard a rumor you love me." She murmured, smiling as he wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed the top of her head.

\--

\--

It was a couple of months into their relationship and Klaus was staying at her apartment one night when he realized he was _pretty_ sure he was in love with Bre.

She had _amazing_ style, and she let Klaus borrow her clothes, and the two of them were both interested in art, though she was more into art history, and didn't actually like the work he did, though she appreciated it on a technical level, and really it was quite lovely. 

He liked being with her a lot, was his point. 

And she actually listened to him when he talked about… well anything, he felt very comfortable talking to her.

He felt something for her he hadn't felt with his other partners, even though he was pretty sure he had loved them too.

Klaus smiled, and held Bre close, resting his chin on the top of her head. She was a calming, warm presence, something he struggled to find normally. It was really nice being with someone who was just… very comforting. 

"I love you." He murmured into her hair. He didn't really mean to say it, but he was _pretty_ sure that's how he felt. 

She tensed a bit, then shifted slightly. Otherwise he was met with complete silence.

Klaus let out a soft laugh "You're already asleep, I guess." He murmured, but he knew what that silence really meant, and he could feel his heart squeeze painfully in his chest.

It was _soon_ , he knew it was. But he'd hoped that _maybe_ it was mutual. 

The next morning, they made breakfast together, and Klaus decided to break up with her himself. 

"I just don't think we're really… meshing, and there's no point on leading either of us on like this." He told her, not wanting to look up at her as he flipped the bacon in the pan.

"I was… starting to think the same thing." She said softly, glancing down at her plate. 

So after breakfast Klaus pressed a kiss to her cheek and went back home.

\--

\--

Allison walked downstairs to see Klaus drinking what Allison assumed to be, mimosas.

And he had plastic wrapped around his hands.

She thought he was at his girlfriend's house, but apparently he got new tattoos, and champagne. 

"Keeping the alcoholism time appropriate, I see." She joked, eyeing Klaus carefully.

"I'm a _lush_ , not an alcoholic." Klaus said, taking a swig from the champagne bottle, before chasing it with a small glass of orange juice.

Maybe she _wasn't_ joking. Did her rumor against getting high work on alcohol? Was she going to have to make it so he couldn't get drunk either?

"Right, of course… What happened?" She asked, sitting down and gently taking the bottle of champagne from Klaus.

At least it wasn't something harder.

"We broke up, come drink brunch with me." Klaus said, motioning for Allison to pour herself a glass.

"So you… got new tattoos?"

Klaus lit up a bit, carefully removing the plastic from his hands. On his right, a detailed image of a sun, the left a moon. Obviously they were meant to go with the other tattoos Klaus had.

" Are you ok? You… You know you're _not_ a human ouija board. Right?" She said gently. 

"Well, I _am_ actually, and I'm fine." He said, trying to get to the champagne.

"You've been acting…" Well, he'd been depressing as fuck, honestly, but she didn't think it was appropriate. He had seemed better the last few months, and she guessed now that he wasn't with Bre anymore, he was… sad, again.

"Do you want me to rumor you to…"

Klaus shook his head, gripping his empty glass tightly, not looking up.

"The drinking… is it like the drugs?"

"I don't…" Klaus was struggling to say what he wanted. "I think… I don't know. I… don't think the rumors helped as much as we thought they did."

And that was hard to hear. "I was trying to help you. I've done research on what drugs can do to people, I didn't want you to…"

"I don't know. I just feel like shit all the time, and...I didn't with Bre, but now I _do_ again…"

Allison rested her chin on her arms, sitting hunched over the table. "I figured if you didn't want to get high, you wouldn't want to do drugs anymore…"

"I still want to… I _did_ a couple of times, but they don't… make me feel like they used to."

"But not using them is _good_ , you're going good, Klaus… Maybe you can see, like, a doctor or something? I think they make doctors for things like this… I'll take the rumors off, we'll see how you feel, and we'll like… do research and shit. They _definitely_ have people to help you with it. I just…"

She wanted to be the person who could help him. They were supposed to help each other, and Klaus was _really_ good at telling her she was better than she thought she was, and giving her the confidence to get what she wanted, even when people told her she wasn't a good fit for something. And she couldn't help him.

She was surprised to feel arms wrapped around her, and when she looked up it was Klaus, because of course it was. "You're _fine_. I know you're trying to help, I don't know why it isn't working." Klaus said. 

"I don't get it... They always work." She said. Her powers _very_ rarely let her down in anyway, so it hurt when they did. 

"I don't know, maybe it's too complicated for your powers? I mean it's _me_ , if anything was going to make someone's powers go weird it'd be me." Klaus said, and Allison let out a wet laugh. 

"We'll figure it out, yeah?"

Allison nodded, hugging Klaus tightly.

\--

\--

Rehab was weird. He wasn't in a particularly fancy one, but it was clean, and nice, and the people were ok, but they also expected him to talk about feelings, and to be sad, and angry, and Klaus hadn't really been able to be like that with someone since he was thirteen or so. 

Weird.

Apparently him being emotional was annoying and detrimental to the team. But _here_ it was expected, because apparently it was _super_ normal for people to use drugs to avoid emotions, and now everyone was feeling weird emotions they'd been suppressing. 

Allison, it was easy with her sometimes, but he was so bad at explaining his thoughts he wasn't ever satisfied with those conversations. It was _almost_ the same here, except it was _ok_ if he didn't know how to explain himself, because no one really expected him to. Or if he didn't feel like talking at all, or if he just wanted to shoot the shit, it wasn't frowned upon, it was just a perfectly normal coping mechanism!

Klaus had to admit he liked it. 

He told his group about the time he'd tried to kidnap a monkey from the zoo, not long after Ben's death, and they didn't even get annoyed by it! Though they were all happy the monkey was perfectly safe and happy... And was actually a statue.

And he _liked_ group therapy, because even if it wasn't a one to one comparison he still felt like he could understand where they were coming from.

Klaus was, admittedly, not 100% honest about _everything,_ but he was able to explain a _lot_ by replacing certain things with more… generic issues.

He didn't see ghosts, but he was easily scared as a kid. He wasn't locked in a mausoleum or scary houses by himself, but he did get punished by being locked in his room for extended periods of time, and given physical punishments. It was close enough without revealing he was from the Academy, and it felt good to explain it to people who didn't _know_ who or what he was talking about. 

Maybe he should have been more honest, but it was working for him, he felt good. Actually good. 

Like better than the artificial high of drugs, good.

And yes, Ben being around still bothered him, but he started to just... enjoy Ben's company, rather than _not_ enjoying it.

He was still afraid of ghosts, without the rumors to stop him from the fear. It wasn't as bad as it had been though, mostly fading more into just… not liking them. 

The nightmares had still kept him up, and he had Allison rumor those away again the morning immediately following his 'de-rumoring'. He had spent the entire ride up to the clinic shaking in his seat from the sudden onslaught of memories.

But now he was out of in-patient rehab, though, having spent two months there.

He was trying to keep busy, and had maybe purchased a few different things to increase the number of hobbies he had, including a video camera.

Actually he was pretty sure his love of art didn't count as a hobby if he did it as a job.

But he was having fun putting video tutorials online about his process, so that was cool. It gave him an excuse to work on practicing his sculpting at home, too, apparently other people were pretty willing to give tips. 

He even saw a lot of the _same_ people commenting on his videos, a lot of them being fans of the special effects in some of the movies he helped work on. The more videos he did, the more people became interested in his work.

Klaus hadn't expected it to happen like that, but it felt kind of nice.

\--

\--

Allison was trying _very_ hard to be a good sister. And she thought she was doing a good job. 

She _did_ offer to pay for Klaus' spa day 

They got their hair done by actual professionals, and while Allison thought her rumors were perfectly fine, it was _really_ fun to be pampered. 

They were sitting in massage chairs, getting pedicures, when Allison excitedly grabbed Klaus' arm.

"You should start your own effects team! You'll get to choose your own projects!" She said. 

Klaus stared at her. 

She stared back, intensely.

It was a good idea, she knew it was.

"Yeah, alright." He said, and Allison knew he just wanted to be the boss of people. 

Allison cheered excitedly. 

She would undoubtedly be helping him pick out a crown at some point, but she was excited by the potential.

She started helping him with research almost immediately, and according to Klaus his 'fans' (and she was happy for him, even if she didn't get how someone could be a fan of someone they never actually saw on screen) seemed to think it was a good idea.

She'd broken up with Jake, after realizing he wasn't quite what she was looking for in a boyfriend, and instead went back to focusing on her work.

He had been really quite devastated, almost scarily so. She didn't get _why_ , but Klaus ended up tossing him out of their apartment when he started to get to be too much.

"Next time break up with them in public, what a bitch." Klaus muttered, rolling his eyes.

He floated some snack foods and sodas over to them and she put on a RomCom to watch something she could laugh at.

\--

\--

After extensive research, and a bit more time and experience under his belt, nearly a year and a half after Allison suggested it, Klaus was finally looking for potential employees. 

He had asked one of his old teachers for recommendations, and even announced it on his YouTube channel, which had gained surprising momentum, and he while had quite a few portfolios he was going through, but was already setting up his first interview.

Klaus was nervous, but excited. 

He took a deep breath, focusing on the intake and outtake of his breath, before motioning for the doors to open to let the first potential employee in.

**Author's Note:**

> Bre is innocent! They were together for like... two months and it freaked her out!
> 
> Also Klaus does videos because of reasons, and someone made a really fun suggestion which I will be incorporating into those YouTube videos-ish, if I can make it work because it was fun.
> 
> Uhm... Yeah. 
> 
> Also this entire story exists partially just so I can have Klaus doing casual and/or stupid things with telekinesis. 
> 
> Seriously.
> 
> He's poked his eye several times trying to apply eyeliner without his hands, you can't tell me otherwise.
> 
> It's the crux of the entire fic.


End file.
